pity me

So let me apologize-

I have no camera that is usable. Fortunately, I am going to Ohio tomorrow and will have a beautiful kitchen and camera to use! Expect a lot of posts in the next coming week. :0)

Oh and let me tell you how bitter I am at making Swiss Meringue!

Alls I got is photobooth,
and a jinx in my oven.

goat cheese, tomato, banilla

This was easily one of the tastiest meals I've recently whipped up in my boy's kitchen in Ohio. It was a simple penne (with lines) pasta dish, topped with home-made stewed tomatoes, and a cauliflower/ broccoli gratin... and of course, french bread!

For the tomatoes (this was for only three starving people):
however many PLUM tomatoes you feel you need (I'd say at least 10 or so)
fresh herbs (I used thyme and basil)
garlic
1 1/2 cup of olive oil
salt/ pepper
& whatever else you want

- boil tomatoes until skin pops/ peal/ de-core them (I cut off top and bottom, slice almost to the core long ways, lay on side, roll as you cut into it with knife.. ya get?)/ slice up to whatever size (I like mine chunky)
- in a separate pan: season oil until hot with basil, thyme, and etc.
- once tomatoes are chopped and oil is hot; throw oil over tomatoes and cook on low/med. heat for an hour or so.
- plate pasta, throw tomatoes over top, and drizzle seasoned oil. top with goat cheese.

so it was easy as that... i highly suggest using the rest of the oil for dipping the bread in!

Cauliflower/broccoli gratin:
one head of cauliflower
one head of broccoli
12 oz. goat cheese
2 cloves fresh garlic (sliced thin)
fresh thyme
3 tbsp milk
1/2 cup bread crumbs

- preheat oven to 450 degrees
- steam cauliflower and broccoli until only slightly cooked
- combine goat cheese + thyme + fresh garlic + milk in food processor until creamy
- once cauliflower and broccoli is steamed, drain, and place in a baking dish.
- spread goat cheese over top + sprinkle bread crumbs
- bake covered for twenty minutes/ remove cover/ bake for five minutes


& you've got yourself a delicious dinner.

For dessert one night I also made banilla yogurt cupcakes with a fresh blueberry swiss meringue buttercream. I can't remember what recipe I used for the cupcakes for the life of me. But and always... I made the same buttercream as featured in the previous post. Except this time I had the ingenious idea to paddle in fresh blueberries!!! So tasty. Do it, I dare ya.

chocolate cupcakes + mint buttercream

Alright, so these were quite possible the yummiest little cupcakes I've ever had. One of the cutest cupcake bakers, Betsy, introduced me to this delectable recipe! Her and I slaved for hours busting out thousands of cupcakes for her table at the Bust Craftacular. Any ways... I stole a couple of chocolate cupcakes (and peppermint buttercream!) from the copious amounts we baked to bring over to my tattoo artist. The next day I piped some buttercream on the little suckers and made my merry way to the subway...

I will admit my piping techniques are a little better than that, but hell! I was in a rush. Every one at the shop flipped over them, and when I made them on Christmas for my family... then too! Must say, these cupcakes may just be a chocolate cupcake with peppermint buttercream and crushed candy canes but they are damn delicious. Okay, on to the recipe!

Chocolate Cupcakes for too many people (might wanna cut this in half!):
10 oz All Purpose Flour
4 oz Cocoa
3 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Salt
8 oz Buttermilk
6 tbsp Water
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
8 oz Butter
4 oz Chocolate (we used huge blocks chopped down)
12 oz Sugar
7.5 oz Dark Brown Sugar
4 Eggs

- Melt butter and chocolate together
- Add all dry ingredients into separate bowl
- Cream sugar, dk br sugar, and eggs
- alternate dry and wet ingredients
- slowly paddle in melted chocolate

(not exactly sure if this is how we did it in the kitchen, but at home i did it this way and came out fine... ya kno them basic skills)

Peppermint Swiss Meringue Buttercream (whole lotta too):
4 cups Sugar
1 cup Water
2 tsp Salt
6 Eggs (room temp)
2 1/2 lbs Butter
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
Peppermint Extract

- Softball (240 degrees) sugar, water, salt
- Whisk eggs and vanilla extract at full volume
- incorporate softball into eggs until cool
- add butter (one piece at a time)
- add peppermint extract to taste!

bow & curtsey

So lemme lay this out for ya... I ain't no photographer and I ain't no chef, but I do love both. I live in crummy New York City, itchin' to move to Pittsburgh where I'll go to culinary school and become an Iron Chef when I'm 40. Nah, I just wanna have a cute eatery called Mamabear some day. That's my life dream, and I didn't know this until nearly six months ago. Ya know... I was wasting my time being a teenager, then that triumphant thing happened. I was taking a nap, as us feisty teens do, and well landed my dream job. There I started in a private pastry kitchen in downtown Brooklyn making petit fours. This was sort of out of my element since I mostly baked cupcakes and the occasional cookie in "home" kitchens. I don't think I even knew what a petit four was. So blah blah blah... A week into this job I learn how to make caramel, marshmallow, pipe beautifully, so on and so forth. I fell hopelessly in love. I mean I knew I loved to bake and cook, but this passion started like a wild fire! Badda bing, badda boom... here I am! Nearly 19, bakin' like hell, cookin' like heaven, givin' the interwebz a little taste. Bon appetite!

Here's a little shmorgusborg of old photos: